So the only reason that Alison is at detention is because she had " nothing better to do". So why doesn't the teacher say to her that she isn't supposed to be here and needs to go? Surely he must have done some kind of registration at the beginning of the day to check that all the people that were supposed to be at detention were? Otherwise if he didn't, which he seemingly mustn't have done, then none of them needed to turn up for detention anyway?
sharePerhaps her parents bribed him into letting her in.
shareI also thought that she really did do something to be 'allowed' in. she was just keeping it quiet because it was really embarrassing.
since the school psychologist office clips were supposed to represent her, then maybe she pulled a false alarm of some emotional sort.
or...
maybe, because she was driven to the school [the parents knew she was serving detention] they had talked to vern about letting her stay because they don't know what else to do with her.
OH THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU SO BLOODY MUCH!!! Basil Fawlty
Alison was proved to be a compulsive liar.
Don't believe her when she says "she had nothing better to do"
but just because she said it, doesn't mean THAT's true...
Reading the paper can really be depressing. Mr. Dithers fired Dagwood again.
This is my thought, conpulsive lier.
shareVernon doesn't seem to know her name.
sharei think its more of a character error. Alison draws and creates pictures, she dances, she goes places, she shop lifts or steals... it's impossible to believe that she had nothing better to do than to crash a detention class on a saturday. Not to mention the fact that in the beginning of the movie she obviously didnt even wanna be there... so why go?? lol. And im sure their names were on a list somewhere and Vernon would have noticed an extra head in detention?? it's a major plot hole and character error
shareHe was a bad teacher/principal. He probably didn't even check to see who was supposed to be there or not.
shareI wondered this as well. I simply thought that while the teacher would very likely have a list of students who were 'supposed' to be there, a student showing up but not on the list would surely be a clerical error; no (normal) student would show up if not required.
shareI think this is a reasonable explanation. Vernon didn't seem to know her name, but would have assumed she was supposed to be there because any student who shows up to detention is obviously supposed to be there.
shareI personally think she was full of crap.
I think she was there for a reason and one reason only:
And that reason was to kill Carl Reed...
I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is..
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Hughes sort of wrote the principal in a different way. Remember that scene where he is urging Bender to punch him? How he actually calls him a coward? He calls Brian a peewee in an earlier scene. He's a principal that's actually prepared to do things teachers aren't technically allowed to do to get the kids to respect him. He's got a different side just like Bender and all the rest, which we see when he and the janitor talk in the basement. He probably let Allison come in just so another kid would be in detention and he'd seem all the more in control.
shareHere's your real plot hole: why did Bender show up? I wasn't as damaged an individual as he was, but had I been given detention on a Saturday there's no way I would have shown up. Just wouldn't have happened. They could barely get me to show up for class. I would guess that a guy like Bender would have had a similar attitude toward attendance. So why did he show? Maybe he was just bored.
shareI showed up to a Saturday detention because the alternative for me was expulsion. That's a good motivator- and my dad didn't even burn me with cigars for spilling paint.
I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is..
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I went to high school in the late 1980s, graduating in 1990; even though my school didn't have Saturday detention, the penalty for failure to report for detention was in-school suspension. That was pretty much a living death; you were confined to an empty room with nothing all day, which was basically the hole for kids...
"...And on this farm he had an igloo..."
Because Bender is a poser.
He talks tough and tries to bully the other kids, but backs down every time he's confronted. For example, when Andrew puts him down and Vernon threatens him.
All the nonsense about being a rebel and having it tough it home is just a front. The fact that he still attends school and even does his assigned detention time tells you that he's a coward at heart, afraid of actually carrying through on any serious or irrevocable action, like dropping out or taking a swing at a teacher. Down deep, Bender is just a scared kid who acts tough so nobody sees what a wuss he really is. His self-image is a miserable loser with no real redeeming qualities, so he copes by verbally abusing everyone around him, trying to drag them down to his level of complete non-achievement.
Do the other kids have their faults? Yes, they do. But Bender is by far the most immature and, as predicted by Vernon, the most likely to fail in life.
"You didn't come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya?"
In truth, Bender is neither a bully, nor a poser.
He is regarded as a rebel because he challenges and questions. Vernon is the type who expects blind obedience, as seen in how he orders Andrew (to the point of even saying "Front and Centre") to prop open teh door with the book case and then puts the burden of that failure on Andrew.
Bender directly opposes that very attitude and anyone who conceeds to it.
Notice how a lot of the 'bullying' and 'abuse' he throws at other four is more about making them question their own situations?
He attends detention because the alternative will land him in more trouble, with the school and then with his abusive father. Taking a swing at a teacher would just be even worse. He's not stupid - He knows when he's caught and has no other choice.
As for likely to fail in life - How do you think he'll be when he can finally make his own choices in life, instead of having it dictated and forced on him by authority figures? He'll more likely flourish far beyond what any of the others could hope for - He's the type of free-thinker that ends up creating a company like Virgin.
Bender's most revealing scene is when he's alone with Vernon in the closet, Vernon dares him to take his shot and Bender won't do it. He wants to, but he won't, because he's a coward and bully. Vernon has him pegged and the self-loathing Bender knows it.
He isn't a rebel or a questioner of authority, he's just a loudmouth coward who is a jerk to the other kids. He doesn't help them, he's just cruel for its own sake. At least until he pushes too far and gets his ass handed to him by Andrew. Then he backs down. Bender is so full of hot air, it's a wonder he doesn't drift away.
Guys like Bender do one of two things with their lives. They wise up, grow up, stop acting like they are the smartest guy in the room and probably do OK. Or, they use the excuse that everyone around them is an idiot and fool, so why bother to try? Those guys are losers, convinced they are better than everyone else, but with zero accomplishment to show for it because running your mouth is way safer than ever risking failure.
"You didn't come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya?"
Bender's most revealing scene is when he's alone with Vernon in the closet, Vernon dares him to take his shot and Bender won't do it. He wants to, but he won't, because he's a coward and bully.
Vernon has him pegged and the self-loathing Bender knows it.
He isn't a rebel or a questioner of authority, he's just a loudmouth coward who is a jerk to the other kids.
Bender is so full of hot air, it's a wonder he doesn't drift away.
Guys like Bender do one of two things with their lives.
They wise up, grow up, stop acting like they are the smartest guy in the room and probably do OK.
Or, they use the excuse that everyone around them is an idiot and fool, so why bother to try?
Those guys are losers, convinced they are better than everyone else, but with zero accomplishment to show for it because running your mouth is way safer than ever risking failure.
Remember how in the closet, Vernon says something like, "who's gonna believe anything you say?". If Bender DID hit him, it could only have gone very badly for him- if Vernon hits back and beats the crap out of him, he could just lie and say that it was all in self-defense, that Bender snapped and attacked him. If Vernon doesn't hit back, he could lie and say that Bender just hit him unprovoked- it would've resulted in expulsion or even worse, jail.
Nobody would believe anything Bender said, and he knew that. He knew he was powerless in this situation and proved that he actually had the intelligence and self-control not to give into his urges and hit him. It has nothing to do with being a coward, Bender was using his street smarts.
Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life!
Totally agree with drnossal....Bender is a poser, wannabe tough guy, all kinds of those type in high school. Talk the talk, but when push comes to shove, they shrivel up.......
share